A Thief in the Night
by apples-a-day
Summary: Emma Swan is a thief, helping the poor by stealing from the rich. But in the Enchanted Forest, it's no easy role to have, especially not in the eyes of the monarchs that rule the lands. Or even worse, in the eyes of the Evil Queen. FTL AU. Credit for image: mishka47
1. Time Flies

**And another new story!**

**I hope I don't swamp myself with too many stories, but this one has been nagging at the back of my head for a while now, and I just had to write it!**

**So, the inspiration from this fic [which is also the image on the cover] was made by the talented and wonderful mishka47 over on tumblr, and they generously allowed me to make a fic from this!**

**Here we go, a complete total AU in FTL. I have skewed most things, as you'll see further on, but I have kept some of the history intact.**

**As a little background to situate yourselves into what is still the same: this story takes a complete turn from the point that Regina offered Snow to give up her claim to the throne, who said yes. Up until then, mostly everything happened as in the show.**

* * *

Panic. That was the only thing that surrounded her as she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her.

"Stop! This isn't funny!"

She heard a bark of laughter in response. "That's only 'cause you're losing, princess!"

"When I catch you...!" The little girl let the threat hang, for how much of a threat could a 5 year-old be against a 16 year-old?

The teen turned to look back at the blonde, smirk on his face. "Do your wooor-!"

The rest of the commend died on his lips, for the teen had ran right into the edge of a hill, and went down rolling. Thankfully he had enough sense to shield the bundle he had been carrying from the brunt of the fall.

The little girl braked at the top, and in last-minute decision, went down after the teen, ready to give him a piece of her mind.

As the blonde reached the bottom, she saw the teen slowly groan as he tried to make sure his limbs were still intact. She rushed to take the bundle into her arms, and saw that the little baby was fine, and babbled happily at seeing her.

She wheeled back to stare at the boy. "You idiot!"

The teen rolled his eyes. "He's fine ain't he? Get your knots untwisted, princess."

"Are not! You need to grow a brain, Neal!"

Neal stood up, crossing his arms. "I do too have a brain, and plus I'm older than you, so that automatically makes me smarter."

The little girl stuck her tongue out in response, walking away from him.

"You're going the wrong way."

"Don't care, I'm not going with you."

Neal sighed, and resigned to follow the little girl a little ways behind. He'd otherwise be in a lot of trouble if he came back without her, and he'd rather not get kicked out of another place, and have to go world-jumping once more. He was sure she'd eventually give up and they could actually go home.

After a while, the young teen saw some markings on a passing tree. They were in a foreign language, and although Neal wasn't much of a linguist, he could hazard a guess the markings wasn't some benign message like "home sweet home".

He looked up at where the little girl had just been, and didn't see anything. Well shit.

"This isn't funny, princess!" He called out, jogging towards where he'd last seen her.

His blood ran cold as he heard an ominous voice yell out "HA! Now I've got you Malkroth!"

He burst through the clearing just as the little girl let out a scream. She was crouching with her back towards her attacker, shielding the baby with her body. The man who had yelled out was clearly a warlock or wizard, and was casting a spell on his unwanted charge.

"Hey!" He grabbed a rock and pelted it to the warlock, hitting him square in the face, getting him to stop his attack with a cry of surprise.

The little girl trembled a bit before collapsing into the ground unconscious.

"Emma!"

* * *

**3 Years Later**

She heard the carriage approach beneath her, and smirked. Another day, another unwitting victim.

The hooded green-clad thief jumped from her perch on the tree right on top of the carriage, making the faintest of thumps as her leather boots collided with the hard surface. The guards riding ahead of the carriage were none the wiser, neither was the driver steering said vehicle.

Emma carefully sneaked up towards the front, and as she reached the edge, she laid down on her stomach on top of the carriage. She stretched her arm down towards the driver, pinching the right pressure point on his shoulder to render him unconscious. The driver slumped forward and she grabbed the reins before they dropped out of reach, pulling on them slowly to get the four horses to slow down. If she did it too fast the horses would make a noise, alerting the guards.

After a couple of minutes, the guards were far away enough for her to pull on the reins tighter, getting the horses to stop altogether.

Letting the reins fall, she quickly made her way to the left side of the carriage, dropping down a little ways, feet finding purchase on the indentations that decorated the carriage. She waited for a bit, forearms resting comfortably on the roof waiting for the bumbling royal to go outside to investigate why they had stopped.

It was always quite a performance to watch if they were just the right kind of victim. And this one didn't disappoint. A rotund monarch scrambled out from the right side. "Charles, why are we stopping? Charles!"

Emma resisted the urge to let out a laugh. She grabbed a rock from her pouch and aimed it just right so that it would fly into the trees and make a rustling noise beyond where the clueless monarch stood. Throwing it, she silently chortled as the man startled himself with the noise.

"Charles?!" While the king was preoccupied, Emma shimmied down lower. She set herself on opening the window on this side, using her trusty tools for the job. She moved them around for a bit until she heard the small click and lowered the window.

The king was still bumbling around by the time Emma reached in to find the heavy pouch of gold. Securing it on her belt, she jumped down from her spot, and quickly went back towards the covers of the trees.

She found her horse just as she had left him, and dropped the pouch of gold into his saddle pocket before climbing onto him and heading home.

* * *

Their hideout was well hidden; after all, being thieves meant that they couldn't exactly settle down in the middle of a bustling town. It took the best wizards and spells to make the surrounding area was fortified and hid the village of thieves from prying eyes and soldiers who chased them.

She made sure the swan necklace was still around her neck as she walked towards the strange archway.

Further ahead, two trees stood on either side of the road. They were peculiarly curved towards each other, creating a wide arch above the rocky way. Wearing a magic pendant allowed the wearer to be transported into their village.

For horses, one of their horseshoes did the trick, and soon Emma found herself with a change of scenery. What had been the bleak Enchanted Forest was now Storybrooke village.

Emma had always found the peculiar name interesting, but didn't question it. She climbed down her horse, taking his reins gently and leading him towards the stables.

"Emma!" She was nearly crushed in a hug by none other than Henry.

"Hey kid!"

She and the child had gotten extremely close after their encounter with Razart 3 years ago. The senile warlock had mistaken little Emma and baby Henry for his old nemesis Malkroth, striking them with a spell. Emma had been able to shield Henry from most of it, getting the curse to hit her mostly. Ever since them, the two have been inseparable. Emma saw it more as sibling thing, but little Henry, who was an orphan, was more than happy to consider her a parent and mentor of sorts.

"How was your hunt?"

She fished the bag of gold up from the pouch to show Henry. "Successful, as always. How was your training?"

He puffed his chest out just a little bit as he said, "Best of my class!"

She ruffled his hair affectionately. "Just what I like to hear."

"Ooow! Stop it!" Henry groaned as she mussed up his hair, quickly using his hands to make it like he wanted it again.

"Relax! It looks fine! Like you just came from a journey fighting dragons! Girls love windswept hair!" Emma tried to appease the kid, but with the glare she got, it wasn't successful. 8 years-old and already worrying about how handsome he looks to try and impress a girl. He'd be a nightmare by the time he was a teen.

"Well, _Prince Henry_, if you're done tidying your hair, you can follow me, and after I drop Ban off at the stables, we can see how well your sword-fighting really is. What do you say?"

He perked up immediately, hair forgotten. Already heading in the direction of the stables. "Let's go!"

Emma shook her head with a smile, tying the bag once more to her belt, leading Bandit along with her. The horse had been rescued from a burning stable a couple of years ago, and Emma had taken ownership of him. Trying to find a name for the horse had been difficult, since nothing worked for the steed.

One day, while Neal and Henry were playing in the barn, the teen had yelled out "Stop! Bandit!" Immediately the horse's ears perked up and the name stuck.

"Well well, the prodigal daughter returns," Neal drawled as she entered the building.

She rolled her eyes, extending the reins to him. "Stuff a sock in it Neal."

Emma and Neal had never gotten along. The only reason they even tolerated each other was because Henry liked to hang with both of them.

The 19 year-old grumbled silently, taking the offered reins and leading Bandit to his stall.

Emma knew what this was about. "Stable duty isn't a punishment you know?"

"Says the _Princess_ who can do no wrong." It was always jealousy with Neal. She didn't understand what the teen's damage was. He had apparently shown up one stormy day requesting asylum 4 years ago and had been here ever since, constantly getting into trouble and breaking rules.

Emma sighed, plopping down on a bale of hay. She saw Henry outside the stables practicing his parries and blocks, before turning back to Neal. "You're exaggerating."

"Oh forgive me, I hadn't realized _you_ get into trouble for sneaking out."

"I do too get in trouble."

"Never seen you get Stable Duty."

"Worse, I get Bookkeeping Duty. Pick your poison man."

That effectively shut him up.

Before they could find anything else to start an argument about, Snow had rushed in. "Oh Emma thank goodness you're here."

"Everything okay, mom?"

She grimaced as a response. "Walk with me."

Emma stole one last look at Neal, who glared at her pointedly, before following her mother out.

She quickly let Henry know that she'd be right back before rushing to follow Snow back to their home.

Once inside, Emma saw that they had a visitor. "Aunt Red!"

The appropriately named red-clad woman stood up from where she was sitting with her father, going over to give her a hug. "My my, you keep growing!"

Emma laughed sarcastically in response, before breaking away to face her mother once again. "What's wrong?"

It was her father who answered. "There's word that the Evil Queen is on the move."

Emma had never met the fearsome woman, but from all the stories she heard, she sounded like a formidable foe, if the stories of the Queen's hell-bent crusade to end Snow White's happiness were any indication. Her mother had barely survived some of the attacks from the Evil Queen, and had only managed to stop the merciless slaughter from the monarch when Snow had abdicated her claim on the throne more than a decade ago.

Ever since then, Snow White has kept to the darker corners of the Enchanted Forest, taking the role of leader with noble thieves and outlaws who still believed in the Princess. Although the Queen had stopped chasing Snow White, there was constant fear that if Snow White or any of her supporters were to ever appear, the Queen wouldn't hesitate to kill them.

No one had wanted to test the theory, so whenever the Queen went travelling, their merry band of thieves hid out in their refuge until it was safe once again.

Red, along with Granny, had their inn within the Dark Kingdom and were privy of the Queen's comings and goings. With that information relayed confidentially, Storybrooke village had persisted, hidden from view.

* * *

Things had been quiet for the past couple of days. Red had gone back to the Dark Kingdom to help at Granny's Inn, and Storybrooke village was under lockdown until Red came back to give them the all-clear.

Emma groaned, sitting up from her desk where she was keeping track of this week's "earnings" so that they could figure out how much they could give next time they went out. Unlike some of the gangs of outlaws out there, they worked to make sure people who were less fortunate had enough to eat. They robbed the rich to give to the poor, a motto Snow White had taken quite a shine to from one of their right hands, Robin Hood. He and his merry men had helped Emma's parents to build Storybrooke, and their silent way of helping those in need was renown throughout the kingdom.

Of course, no one knew who they were, as they were disguised every time. Circus troupe, theater group, farmers trying to sell their wares, they always changed it up so as to not arouse suspicion with guards.

Now, Emma stood up and headed outside, wanting some sunshine and a break from the work that awaited her when she returned.

"Emma!" She hadn't made it too far out before she heard her name being called, turning to see the stable master, Jonathan, running to her, waving his arm.

"Is everything alright?" She glanced at the man now standing in front of her, trying to catch his breath.

He looked worried, and as he responded, she knew why. "Have you seen Neal and Henry? They were supposed to be helping me today but I haven't seen either one of them anywhere, the only who did was Robert, who saw them an hour ago heading towards the gate."

Without responding, she ran towards the stables, grabbing Bandit and leading him towards the entrance gates.

She quickly explained to the guard on-duty that she was going out, climbing onto her horse and pulling her hood up before running out.

* * *

Although she didn't much care for Neal, if Henry was out with the Evil Queen so nearby, it could prove to have disastrous consequences. She made a mental note to remember to suggest Bookkeeping duty for when they caught Neal, so he could get a taste of it.

As she reached the crossroads of pathways, she paused. Where could they have gone?

She didn't have to wait long for the answer.

"Emma!" Once again she turned towards the voice calling for her, and her heart leapt at her throat seeing who it was. Henry was running towards her, but he had soot all over his face. Looking at the direction he was coming from, she saw a wall of smoke. Oh no.

She jumped down from her horse and ran the rest of the way, sinking to her knees as she reached the boy. "Henry!" Emma hugged him quickly, and then checked for injuries. Seeing none, she grabbed him by the shoulders and asked, "Are you okay? Where's Neal?"

"I'm fine. Just a little bit of ash. And Neal's still trying to put out the fire-"

Emma didn't even give him a chance to finish; she grabbed him and took her back to her horse, putting him on the saddle in front of her before climbing in herself. She quickly urged Bandit to head in the way Henry had come.

"Start explaining, kid."

"Neal was bored, so he asked me if I wanted to help him rob some bad guys. And I said yes, 'cause who doesn't want to defeat bad guys, especially if it means that you get out of shoveling-"

"Focus Henry."

"Right. Well anyway, we sneaked by Mario and headed out. Then we saw the Ne'er-Do-Well gang running around and we decided to follow them. For information, of course."

Emma didn't believe that for a second. If she knew Neal, he was probably trying to see if he could one up them in their own game, or rob whoever they were planning on robbing before them. "And how did the fire come into play?"

"We didn't do it! Promise. By the time we reached them they were setting the carriage on fire with whoever's in there still trapped-"

"Wait there's a person still in there!?" Emma didn't wait to hear more, rushing her steed to go faster, "Come on Ban!"

Once they got there, the fire was out of control. Emma quickly checked her pouch for a small bean. She had asked it to be made last year, and Simon, the resident potioneer had laughed at her. Now she was going to prove him wrong.

Ordering Henry to stay on Ban, she climbed down and ran towards the fire, and once she was close enough, she pelted the bean towards the flames.

Suddenly a boom was heard, and it was as if a dam had broken open, as water shot out from where she assumed the bean landed, drenching the area in water, killing any fire.

"That was so cool!" Emma smirked at Henry's exclamation, but now she had to rescue both Neal and whoever had been in the carriage. Though chances were that the person in there was a royal, who'd be none-too-pleased at being rescued by a thief, even if she did save their life.

She ran towards the charred area, easily spotting Neal. Crouching beside him, she saw he was still alive, just unconscious with a thick branch holding him down.

Thankfully it wasn't too heavy, so she was able to throw it off relatively easily. Either the branch had fallen after he fell unconscious, or the lack of oxygen depleted his strength. Emma noted that he had some nasty burns on his arms and legs; he needed help right away. She heaved him up and took him back to where Henry and Bandit were.

"Okay kid, you're gonna scooch back so Neal can go draped in the front. Make sure he stays on the horse, and go as fast as you can back to the village. I'll go help the poor soul in the carriage," provided they're still alive, she added morbidly in her mind, not wanting to scare off the child.

"What about you?"

"I'll come back later as soon as I finish here. Tell Snow and David that I'm fine and to not worry. And Henry, under no circumstances are you to run away again, understood?"

He nodded. "Yes, mom."

Emma let the title slide. Although she wasn't too comfortable with the name of the role, she knew Henry needed a family, and he had appointed her as his sole family, no room for questions.

"Okay now go!" She watched as Bandit carried Henry and Neal off, taking a deep breath.

Now to go rescue a royal.

* * *

**And that was the first chapter!**

**Just to clarify some things, yes that is Neal, as in Rumpelstiltskin's Baelfire, and no, Henry is not Emma's nor Neal's kid. **

**To that end, the ages I mentioned here are correct, Emma in the beginning scene was 5, Neal 16, and Henry was a wee baby. Now 3 years later Emma is in her 20s, Henry is 8, and Neal is 19. I'm pretty sure the answer is obvious, but it shall be explained further into the story for clarification.**

**As for the Razart and Malkroth, they're just warring old-timers.**

**Please let me know what you think, and in the next chapter, we'll see who Emma is rescuing!**

**Meanwhile I'll be updating Such a Heavenly view, so keep a lookout for that!**


	2. The Rescue

**And back again with this story!**

**We have the official intro of an important character and the plot truly begins.**

**I hope everyone enjoys this.**

* * *

Emma made her way closer to the carriage, flinching at the charred and blackened state it was in. Thankfully it seemed that the horses were taken away before the fire started, and perhaps anyone accompanying the carriage. Now she just had to hope that whoever was in it wasn't dead.

Although Emma's status as a thief might make it seem villainous, she was far from it. She always made sure her targets were rich enough that they could survive losing the money, and she never went out with the intention of hurting anyone. Now if any idiots got in her way, she knew just how to deal with them, hence why she carried her bow and arrows, as well as a motley of knives hidden away. But Emma was proud to say she had never killed anyone, nor would she ever.

Once she found the door, she saw with a pang that the handle was broken, and the glass window wasn't wide enough to pass a human through it. But air was a necessity. Emma tried to peer inside, but only saw darkness. The thief hoped that the victim wasn't near the door as she elbowed the glass in.

It shattered instantly on contact, and Emma relaxed a bit knowing that at least air was getting in there. She groped around for the inner door handle, and found it missing too. Trying to budge the door with her bare hands had no success, the Ne'er-do-well gang must've done everything to ensure whoever was in there couldn't open the door by any means.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" Emma tentatively called to the dark depths inside the carriage. She got no response.

She reached around and grabbed one of her arrows from her quiver, and wedged it in between the door, near the miniscule gap between the door and the carriage's side. Emma hoped that her arrow wouldn't snap, and started to apply pressure, hoping the door's lock was flimsy.

It was. With a crack and a snap, the door split open, and her arrow split in half. She had plenty of other arrows so she just dropped the broken one and glanced inside. There. an unconscious figure draped in black was lying on the floor. Emma scrambled to get the figure out of the vehicle, and outside to inspect them better.

Wow. That was the first thought that came to Emma as she saw the gorgeous figure she was holding properly in the sunlight. Silky dark brown hair and flawless skin, this woman must be one hell of a queen to be looking so luscious. Or maybe this woman was an angel. The dark and revealing fancy dress shot that idea down, but Emma was fascinated. So much so that she nearly forgot what she was supposed to be doing. Checking to see if she was alive. Right.

The green-clad thief quickly put the woman gently on the ground, using a fallen trunk as a pillow to prop the woman up on. She checked her pulse and was relieved to find out that her mysterious royal was still alive. She didn't appear to be injured, but her wrists were tied together behind her. Emma reached towards the dagger by her boot and slashed the rope open. As soon as the royal's hands were free, Emma made sure the brunette woman was lying comfortably before she refocused on her surroundings.

The royal would need water when she woke up after inhaling so much smoke, and Emma's canteen was inside one of Ban's pouches, probably back in Storybrooke Village by now. Looking around, she saw a pile of contents lying just on the outside of the circle of fire-ravaged forest. Upon closer inspection, Emma recognized the things as Neal's. The sword was definitely his, he must've dropped everything when he rushed into the fire to try and rescue whoever this woman was. She thanked her lucky stars spotting a canteen among the contents Neal had brought. Also there was a small pouch of gold and his cloak.

Emma attached the sheathed sword to her belt and gathered everything else in her arms, taking it closer to the woman on the ground, who was just now waking up. She made sure her hood was up properly and prepared herself.

* * *

The first thing Regina noticed was the smell of smoke. Before she had even opened her eyes, the smell of burnt wood attacked her senses, disorienting her. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was in the Enchanted Forest, and the trees around her were charred.

Then she remembered. Her guards stopping at the blockade of thieves, the sea of arrows on fire, the manacle, her hands tied up, being shoved into her carriage and then locked in. Trying to open the door by any means possible. Choking on smoke. A final plea of desperation. _Please...anyone_.

She cleared her throat, that moment of weakness would stay hidden until her dying day.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, your highness." Regina jumped at hearing the voice speak, and for a chilling moment, she thought that the thieves were still here. But this was the voice of a woman. The gang of bandits before had all been men. She turned her head and her heart sunk.

The figure a little ways from where she was lying was clad in green, a sword by her hip, a bow strapped to her back, arrows peeking out from the quiver. Her face was shrouded in darkness due to the hood, which made Regina antsy. This woman was clearly a thief. She must've been more out of it than she thought, as she usually kept her face an impassive mask, only breaking to show anger. Never happiness, or even more rarely, fear.

The thief must've noticed her expression and brought her hands up in a placating gesture, leather-glove clad hands trying to calm the royal. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Regina scoffed, making a move to retort with a biting response, but her words got caught in her throat as she coughed, probably from the smoke still in her lungs that she had inhaled.

"Oh right, here drink this." The thief held out a canteen towards her, but Regina eyed it warily. Sensing the mistrust, the other woman sighed, bringing the canteen to her face, but rose it a bit further so that the water was visibly cascading into her mouth. Once a bit of the water was swallowed, she turned back to look at the royal, once more holding it out. "See? Not poisoned."

Regina finally relented, taking a hearty swig from the offered canteen. After she finally felt that her voice was back, she said, "I hope you're not expecting some reward for this, _thief_." The last word was said with a sneer and a glare to the mysterious figure crouching by her side.

But the thief merely smirked. "A simple 'thank you' would suffice, your highness."

That was something Regina never did, and especially refused to do, seeing the self-righteous smirk in her saviour. "And whyever would I want to say such a thing?"

"Because I saved your life."

"I beg to differ. I was doing quite fine without your meddling."

Regina heard a scoff and it made her blood boil. How dare this woman not treat her with respect. Or even cower at her feet. "Of course your highness, I hadn't realized that collapsing from the smoke inside your carriage with your hands bound behind your back was part of your plan."

The royal glared, getting the thief to smirk even more. Oh how she wanted to wipe that smirk off of her face. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"I'm assuming you are some sort of queen or royal. The forest isn't exactly privy to all the comings and goings of high life gossip, so forgive me if you're supposed to be this intimidating figure in your land."

Regina had had enough of this farce. She stood up, fists clenching, glaring down at the still crouching thief.

After a beat, the thief stood, the figure was slightly taller than she was, and with the smirk still in place, she crossed her arms. Neither woman said anything for a while, but Regina would not relent.

"If you know what's good for you, thief, you'll wipe that smirk off your face or..." Twisting her arm towards her chest, she went to make the familiar movement to call up a fireball, but was met with nothing but air on her clawed hand.

"...Or you'll offer your hand to me?" The smirk grew even wider if possible, and Regina swore she heard a chuckle. "I'm flattered your highness. Perhaps we should start making our way to your land before dusk falls?"

Regina looked down at her hand, wondering why her magic was failing her. It was then she realized she still had the manacle on. The one that supposedly took away her ability to do magic. She _had_ felt weaker once that disgusting bandit had slapped it on her, though she had spat in his face as retribution. She didn't want to admit to this woman about the manacle, the thief would surely take advantage of it. Besides, she'd be leaving her in a bit. "And what makes you think you'll be accompanying me anywhere? I can handle myself just fine, thief."

"But the woods aren't safe, your highness."

"I can take care of myself."

"Without so much as a weapon? I doubt it."

Regina realized, though she'd never admit it out loud, the thief was right. She had no magic, and she had no weapons at her disposal. Her skills with a sword were rusty at best, some key lessons still in her mind from the long-past days spent with her father, where he indulged her in some fencing lessons. "You don't know me, I don't need a weapon to help me."

"Forgive me, your highness, but I don't believe you."

Regina didn't even deign to respond, making her way out of the charred area of the forest, heading in the way that the carriage was facing, which clearly had to be the direction her kingdom was located.

After a few paces, she heard a voice call to her. "Forgive me your majesty, but you're headed in the direction of King Leo's kingdom. To the best of my knowledge, King Leo is a man, and an unmarried one at that, so would I be wrong in assuming you have no idea where you are going?"

Regina whipped back to face the thief. She stomped back to where the insufferable woman stood, all the while trying to channel all her malice and Evil Queen elegance she could muster. She unconsciously started to make a gesture to call up rocks ready to pelt the woman as a threat, but once more nothing came, not that she noticed it at first. "If you are trying to trick or deceive me, thief I swear-"

"Yes yes I know, you'll do some vague hand movement that is meant to be threatening." Regina could hear the sarcasm in the response, which only made the queen purse her lips even more, and narrow her eyes as if glaring could intimidate the thief. "But really, what possible reason could I have for trying to deceive you?"

The other woman clearly must think her a fool. "You jest. Do you really think of me as that stupid? You are a thief and I am stranded in a forest, why wouldn't you deceive me?"

"Well, your highness, I believe you just answered your query. You are stranded in the Enchanted Forest, and you should know that us thieves don't just steal, we help those who need it." Regina saw that the smirk had morphed into a smile, the thief seeming friendlier just like that.

"And what makes you think I need help?"

There was a groan, and Regina was sure that, if she could have seen the woman's eyes, she'd be rolling them. "It won't kill you to admit it, you know?"

Regina didn't answer, for what could she say? She was completely lost, though her stubbornness would never let her admit that, and denying it further would just prompt the thief to keep goading her until she did. So she did the next best thing, and started to walk away in another direction. She had a general knowledge of where her kingdom was located in relation to King Leo's, and headed in the direction she believed her kingdom was located.

Of course the thief followed her. Regina couldn't hear their footfalls, she supposed the thief was an expert on not making any noise, but the queen could tell there was a presence trailing behind her.

"If it makes you feel better," the thief piped up after a few minutes of silent walking, "You can always just say that I wouldn't stop bugging you or leaving you alone and kept you company."

Regina stopped walking and turned once more to face the mysterious thief, finally finding a reason to smirk herself. "Is that not what you are doing regardless?"

"Touche." The thief bowed her head a little bit in recognition that she had been outwitted. "Am I to take this to mean I am indeed accompanying you to your kingdom?"

"Do I have a choice?"

* * *

**The plot thickens! Well not really, it was more conversation that anything, I just couldn't resist the snarkfest between these two.**

**So Emma and Regina have met! What do you think?**

**Next up will be the travel and adventures through the forest, including a sleepover [oooooh~]**

**What is next in terms of stories? Well I'll be uploading Date in the Name of the Law, as well as adding a new chapter.**

**Then I'll be tackling a NEW story [yes I have a problem with starting too many stories] which will be an Enchanted AU like you've never seen it before.**

**And yes I mean Enchanted as in the Disney movie that I'm pretty sure in some way or form must've inspired this show in some level [alongside Fables of course].**

**Also I've got a tumblr! Link is on my profile, so you're more than welcome to check it out!**


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